Trial of the Sekhemas guide

Find Balbala, the Traitor in Traitor's Passage, break the seals that hold her, and defeat her. Take the campaign Barya through the Ascent to Power quest route to unlock the Trial of the Sekhemas from the Ardura Caravan.

• Balbala, the Traitor has been defeated in Traitor's Passage.
• Ascent to Power is active.
• The Trial of the Sekhemas destination is available from the Desert Map.

Use the campaign Barya for the first one-floor run. A Djinn Barya with area level 24 to 44 records one floor, 45 to 59 records two, 60 to 74 records three, and 75 to 80 records four. The Barya tooltip must say the run is eligible to grant the next Ascendancy points.

• The Barya records enough floors for the intended boss.
• Its area level is appropriate for the build.
• Its tooltip says the run can grant additional Ascendancy points when progression is the goal.

Place the Barya in the Relic Altar and equip Relics before opening the run. Honour Resistance is the first defensive priority for most characters. The altar has 18 spaces, with 12 spaces unlocked by completing earlier floors. Relics cannot be changed after the trial starts.

• Honour Resistance is as close to its current maximum as the available Relics allow.
• Every unlocked space that fits a useful Relic is occupied.
• The Barya and Relic arrangement are final before entering.

Starting Honour is based on maximum Life, maximum Energy Shield, and maximum Runic Ward. Maximum Mana is also added when the Mind Over Matter keystone is active. Honour carries between rooms, and reaching zero fails the run even when the character remains alive. Honour Resistance reduces Honour loss, while attacks from nearby enemies cause up to 35% less Honour loss.

• Avoid optional hits even when they would not threaten character Life.
• Use recovery before Honour becomes too low for the next boss.
• In a party, remember that Honour is shared and the instance owner makes route decisions.

The five regular objectives are Escape, Ritual, Chalice, Gauntlet, and Hourglass. Choose the next room by checking its objective, reward, and Affliction together. Prefer branches that preserve future choices. Avoid movement penalties before Escape or Gauntlet rooms, and avoid dangerous monster-speed or damage Afflictions before a boss.

• The selected objective suits the build's movement and damage profile.
• The reward is worth the Affliction attached to the room.
• The route does not force a worse room immediately afterward when another branch is available.

Sacred Water exists only inside the active run. Spend it with Balbala, the Released for Boons, Relics, or Honour recovery, or use it at Maraketh Shrines and Pledges. Remaining Sacred Water can be converted into Bronze, Silver, or Gold Keys at the Keth Forge after a boss.

• Keep enough Sacred Water for Honour recovery when the current floor is unsafe.
• Buy a useful Boon only after checking whether recovery is more important.
• Convert leftover Sacred Water into cache keys before leaving the reward area.

Floor 1 ends with Rattlecage, floor 2 with Hadi and Rafiq, floor 3 with Ashar, and floor 4 with Zarokh. Carry Honour, Boons, Afflictions, and Sacred Water between floors. During Zarokh's time-freeze sequence, missing the hourglasses now damages Honour and starts a slower secondary phase instead of immediately failing the trial.

• Prepare fire mitigation for Rattlecage, fire and cold for Hadi and Rafiq, and chaos for Ashar.
• Restore Honour before entering a boss room when the route allows it.
• For Zarokh, preserve movement speed and a clear route to the hourglasses.

After defeating the final boss recorded by the Barya, use the Altar of Ascendancy when the run is eligible, then spend the trial keys on matching caches. A completed four-floor run also enables Zarokh's unique Relic challenge runs, where the Relic is consumed and a specified restriction is exchanged for a specified unique reward.

• Use the Altar of Ascendancy before leaving an eligible run.
• Open Bronze, Silver, and Golden Caches with matching keys.
• Read every unique Relic restriction before applying it to a future Barya.